But the SFA President insists he WILL do all he can to help both Gers and Celtic live their dream of being part of an all-new European league set-up further down the line.

Ibrox supremo Charles Green claimed earlier this week that his club should look to leave if the SPL and SFL’s plans to introduce a new 12-12-18 league set-up are pushed through. Right now Gers would have nowhere to go — and UEFA rules wouldn’t allow them to move to another country.

But SFA President Ogilvie senses chiefs in Nyon are finally warming to the idea of establishing a cross-border league involving some of the continent’s bigger clubs.

And he revealed he can now see a scenario where one day the Old Firm could be involved in both a Scottish AND European set-up.

He said: “We have a situation in this country where the championship has been won by the Old Firm something like 47 times in 50 years.

“I can understand the Rangers scenario or certain clubs maybe wanting to play elsewhere. The slight change this time is that there’s been a softening with UEFA on this.

“They are opening up more to the idea of clubs crossing borders.

“I don’t know where that’s going to go — and even if it goes somewhere it’s not going to move forward significantly in the next two or three years.

“We embrace looking at that. We have to be looking at these issues and we have an open mind — we’re not anti that at all.

“A year ago I went to a UEFA meeting where the issue was raised for the first time. We reported it to the Professional Game Body here and the decision was taken that, yes, we should be looking at this. We’ve been involved in discussions. The European Club Association has been involved and so have UEFA.

“We can’t be left behind. It’s an avenue we have to explore.

“But it won’t change overnight.”

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell, unlike Green, confirmed earlier this week that the Hoops ARE keen to play their part in the new 12-12-18 set-up.

But the Hoops have openly admitted they would be interested in playing in an expanded European league.

Ogilvie believes a number of big clubs across the continent are now starting to share a similar view.

But he insists the Old Firm’s first priority must be helping Scottish football get its house in order.

He said: “We’ve got to be a step ahead so we are speaking to UEFA. The clubs in the ECA — Rangers, Celtic, Hearts and Aberdeen to a lesser degree — will be involved in these debate.

“That’s being done — but what we have is an immediate problem in the game and that has to be addressed at the same time.

“In the short term we have to be looking at how we can improve the game in this country.